Syrian opposition accused of human rights violations

South west France shooting suspect Mohamed Merah, at the center of much online debate. Syrian armed opposition groups accused of human rights violations. And a Mexican air passenger claims he was forced to disembark before takeoff because he is gay.

Now trending on social networks

Ever since his name was released by the authorities on Wednesday morning, Mohamed Merah, the gunman suspected of killing seven people in south west France, is at the center of much online debate. He claims to have links to terrorist organization Al Qaeda and has allegedly said he carried out the murders to avenge Palestinian children and make the French military pay for its presence in Afghanistan. Social networkers are saying his reasoning is sickening and shocking and nothing can justify these terrible acts.

Syrian opposition accused of human rights violations

NGO Human Rights Watch has addressed an open letter to the Leaders of the Syrian Opposition regarding human rights abuses by armed opposition members. The NGO says some of the attacks appear to have targeted President Bashar al-Assad’s own Alawite community and appear to be motivated by sectarianism.

Kidnappings, torture, and even executions, the New York based organization has cited videos posted and aired on the Internet apparently documenting these violations. This footage from January shows a group of Iranian nationals held in Homs by members of the Free Syrian Army. They tell the camera they are soldiers sent from Tehran to back up loyalist forces in the crackdown ordered by the Damascus government. Iranian media has reported these were forced ‘confessions” made under duress, and the men were actually engineers working for an Iranian power company in Syria.

Dozens of online documents appear to testify to the crimes committed by certain armed opposition members, some of whom even resorted to torture. In this video we see three men introduced as pro-regime militiamen confess to killing peaceful demonstrators; their hands are tied behind their backs and their faces are covered in wounds.

On Monday Mexican airline passenger Rodrigo Viadas tweeted “The captain of AeroMexico flight 427 from Miami to Mexico City has just had me removed from the plane because I am gay. I cannot believe this discrimination”. Wanting to share his ordeal with web users, he proceeded to give a blow by blow account via the social network, with real time updates…

His story has prompted lively reactions on the local web. Numerous Twitter users have been expressing their solidarity with Rodrigo Viadas and condemning the airline’s actions”. Others remain wary however, like this web user who questions Rodrigo Viadas’ version of events, wondering if he perhaps left out some of the details.

And although the young man eventually made it on a plane home on Tuesday, this is not the end of it. AeroMexico has informed Rodrigo Viadas via its Twitter account that it will be launching a full enquiry into the incident.

Positivdate.com

Positivedate.com was launched early March and is a platform for people with sexually transmitted diseases. It is currently only available in French with one free section containing all sorts of information and advice on STDs and another paying section, and this is what makes it so novel, for those looking for friendship, or maybe something more. The aim is to bring together people who are excluded by others because of their condition. On this site there is no judgment and no rejection.

Video of the day

American DJ “Girl talk” has put together a 77 minute long video clip following various dancers as they make their way through the streets of New York and used his 2010 album “All Day” as the soundtrack. He was able to complete the project thanks to the generosity of web users who donated 25 000 dollars towards the making of this feature length video clip. This must see is called “Girl Walk” it is broken up into twelve installments and is available to view on the site Girlwalkallday.com.